Lao PDR’s employment picture combines high labor force participation with a large vulnerable-employment share. The World Bank API reports a labor force participation rate of 66.087% in 2025, while the unemployment rate was 1.187% in the same year. These indicators describe different parts of the labor market: participation measures involvement in the labor force, unemployment measures the share without work within the labor force, and vulnerable employment identifies a separate employment-quality concern.
Contents
- Headline employment figures
- Labor force participation over time
- Female labor force participation
- Male labor force participation
- The participation gap by sex
- Vulnerable employment
- Unemployment rates
Headline employment figures
The latest supplied World Bank API observations are for 2025. Lao PDR’s overall labor force participation rate was 66.087%, and the female rate was 61.56%. The male rate was higher, at 70.629%. The vulnerable employment share was 76.3797861737916%, while the unemployment rate was 1.187%.
The figures should be read as distinct measures rather than combined into one total. A participation rate indicates the proportion of the relevant population active in the labor force. An unemployment rate describes unemployment within the labor force. Vulnerable employment is an employment-status indicator. Because each measure answers a different question, the low reported unemployment rate does not by itself describe the security or quality of work.
| Indicator | 2025 rate | World Bank API series |
|---|---|---|
| Labor force participation, total | 66.087% | SL.TLF.CACT.ZS |
| Labor force participation, female | 61.56% | SL.TLF.CACT.FE.ZS |
| Labor force participation, male | 70.629% | SL.TLF.CACT.MA.ZS |
| Vulnerable employment share | 76.3797861737916% | SL.EMP.VULN.ZS |
| Unemployment rate | 1.187% | SL.UEM.TOTL.ZS |
Labor force participation over time
The World Bank API total series includes observations from 1995 through 2025 in the supplied figures. The rate was 62.159% in 1995, 61.772% in 2000, 61.326% in 2005, and 60.682% in 2010. It was 60.016% in 2015, 62.912% in 2020, 64.618% in 2021, and 66.001% in 2022.
The more recent observations were 65.99% in 2023, 65.989% in 2024, and 66.087% in 2025. These values show the reported rate at each measurement year, with a rise from the 2015 observation to the 2020–2025 period. The figures are annual observations for Lao PDR; they should not be treated as a monthly employment series.
| Year | Total labor force participation |
|---|---|
| 1995 | 62.159% |
| 2000 | 61.772% |
| 2005 | 61.326% |
| 2010 | 60.682% |
| 2015 | 60.016% |
| 2020 | 62.912% |
| 2021 | 64.618% |
| 2022 | 66.001% |
| 2023 | 65.99% |
| 2024 | 65.989% |
| 2025 | 66.087% |
The latest three observations are close to one another: 65.99% in 2023, 65.989% in 2024, and 66.087% in 2025. That pattern describes the supplied annual estimates for those years, not a claim that labor-force activity was unchanged in every part of the year. The source label for this series is World Bank API indicator SL.TLF.CACT.ZS.
Female labor force participation
Female labor force participation in Lao PDR was 59.518% in 1995 and 58.658% in 2000, according to the World Bank API series SL.TLF.CACT.FE.ZS. The reported rate was 57.826% in 2005, 56.892% in 2010, and 56.202% in 2015.
The series then records 58.68% in 2020, 60.323% in 2021, and 61.37% in 2022. The next observations were 61.407% in 2023, 61.466% in 2024, and 61.56% in 2025. These are the female labor force participation rates for Lao PDR in the stated years.
The 2025 figure is therefore 61.56%, while the 2024 figure is 61.466% and the 2023 figure is 61.407%. Keeping the years attached is important because the differences between these recent observations are small and should not be presented as a single undated rate. The longer sequence also includes a lower reported point of 56.202% in 2015 and a later value of 60.323% in 2021.
Male labor force participation
The male labor force participation series, identified by the World Bank API as SL.TLF.CACT.MA.ZS, was 64.65% in 1990 and 64.806% in 1995. It was 64.878% in 2000, 64.811% in 2005, and 64.462% in 2010.
For the later years, the reported male rate was 63.824% in 2015, 67.147% in 2020, 68.92% in 2021, and 70.642% in 2022. The series records 70.585% in 2023, 70.527% in 2024, and 70.629% in 2025.
The 2025 male rate is thus 70.629%, compared with 70.527% in 2024 and 70.585% in 2023. The available figures also include the earlier 1990 observation, which is not included in the supplied total series. For that reason, the male series has a longer stated time span in the available observations than the overall series.
The participation gap by sex
The female and male series show a difference in labor force participation in every directly comparable year supplied. In 2025, female participation was 61.56% and male participation was 70.629%. In 2024, the corresponding figures were 61.466% and 70.527%. In 2023, they were 61.407% and 70.585%.
Earlier comparisons show the same ordering. In 2020, female participation was 58.68% and male participation was 67.147%. In 2015, the rates were 56.202% for women and 63.824% for men. In 2010, they were 56.892% and 64.462%, respectively.
| Year | Female participation | Male participation |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 56.892% | 64.462% |
| 2015 | 56.202% | 63.824% |
| 2020 | 58.68% | 67.147% |
| 2021 | 60.323% | 68.92% |
| 2022 | 61.37% | 70.642% |
| 2023 | 61.407% | 70.585% |
| 2024 | 61.466% | 70.527% |
| 2025 | 61.56% | 70.629% |
This comparison is descriptive: it places the two sex-specific participation rates side by side for the same Lao PDR measurement years. It does not explain why the rates differ, because the supplied statistics contain no breakdown by occupation, sector, age, location, education, or household circumstances.
Vulnerable employment
The World Bank API vulnerable-employment series reports a share of 90.2098073458868% in 1995 and 87.5350779593578% in 2000. The share was 84.8879922101432% in 2005 and 82.3803129414813% in 2010. In 2015, it was 79.9914931027485%.
The later observations were 77.8490784865733% in 2020, 77.3729365768897% in 2021, and 77.1092946471943% in 2022. The reported share was 76.9069957462894% in 2023, 76.6380615308234% in 2024, and 76.3797861737916% in 2025.
| Year | Vulnerable employment share |
|---|---|
| 1995 | 90.2098073458868% |
| 2000 | 87.5350779593578% |
| 2005 | 84.8879922101432% |
| 2010 | 82.3803129414813% |
| 2015 | 79.9914931027485% |
| 2020 | 77.8490784865733% |
| 2021 | 77.3729365768897% |
| 2022 | 77.1092946471943% |
| 2023 | 76.9069957462894% |
| 2024 | 76.6380615308234% |
| 2025 | 76.3797861737916% |
The supplied series records a lower vulnerable-employment share in each listed period after 1995, ending at 76.3797861737916% in 2025. The indicator remains a separate measure from participation and unemployment. Its presence in an employment overview helps show why a low unemployment rate should not be read as a complete account of job conditions.
Unemployment rates
The World Bank API unemployment series reports 1.35% for Lao PDR in 2005 and 0.708% in 2010. The 2015 rate was 2.006%, followed by 2.349% in 2020 and 2.08% in 2021.
The more recent observations were 1.209% in 2022, 1.186% in 2023, 1.174% in 2024, and 1.187% in 2025. The highest figure among the supplied unemployment observations is 2.349% in 2020, while the lowest is 0.708% in 2010. These statements describe the supplied annual values and do not add an explanation for changes between years.
For current-year context, the 2025 unemployment rate was 1.187%, alongside a 66.087% total labor force participation rate. In the same year, the female participation rate was 61.56%, the male participation rate was 70.629%, and the vulnerable employment share was 76.3797861737916%. Reading these measures together gives a more precise statistical profile of Lao PDR employment than using any one rate alone.